Nine Lives
by Glacierclaw
Summary: This is a one shot fic about what happened during Tigerstar's nine lives ritual. Was it really ShadowClan cats giving him those lives?


This is a one-shot about what happened while Tigerstar was receiving his nine lives. He certainly didn't see ShadowClan's StarClan…

* * *

Nine Lives 

By Glacierclaw

I had left ThunderClan. Or, rather, they had exiled me after I tried to murder their leader. I had been furious when that ginger kittypet – Fireheart – had stood up on the Highrock and told the entire Clan everything he knew about my treachery. Ravenpaw was alive. I hardly cared.

But then I came to ShadowClan. A Clan that was weak and sick. Their leader and deputy, dead. It was perfect. They accepted me without question, their Clan was so desperate. They were so happy for me to be leader.

Leader.

I had to receive my nine lives from StarClan. This was the part I was most worried about. Would StarClan accept me? ShadowClan had no idea what I had done in ThunderClan. They didn't even know why I had left – only that StarClan had sent Runningnose an omen about another great leader who would arise. At least, that was what I had told Runningnose to tell ShadowClan. It was the only way to get them to trust me – and what choice did Runningnose have? His Clan was dying. They needed a leader, and here I was.

I had traveled to Mothermouth with the medicine cat. He was nervous, jumpy. Like he didn't think that this was the best thing for the Clan. I would definitely prove him wrong.

The two of us stopped in front of the wide gap that led into the cave. The Moonstone was somewhere down there. My paws were tingling with excitement. I was about to become a Clan leader! That was the first step in achieving my ambition.

I turned to Runningnose. The small gray-and-white cat's pelt looked almost black against the night. "What do I do when I reach the Moonstone?" I asked.

"When _we_ reach the Moonstone," he corrected, without meeting my amber gaze. Maybe he was afraid of me. "I'm coming with you."

"Right, whatever."

"You press your nose against the rock and wait for StarClan to call you," was the response.

"For StarClan to call me?" I repeated in disbelief. "You mean, for me to die?"

Runningnose chuckled. "No, of course not. StarClan will give you a dream, Tigerclaw."

I nodded. "Okay, let's go."

I stalked into the cave. It was so dark I could see absolutely nothing, so I relied on scent to tell me the right way to go. I was aware of Runningnose walking behind me, through the many tunnels of this cave. I leapt onto a ledge, then another, then another, up until I saw a bright, shining light ahead. The Moonstone.

I glanced at Runningwind. The tom wasn't much younger than I was, but he was having trouble keeping up. He nodded to me. I did as he had instructed me before and pressed my nose against the shining rock. It made my dark brown tabby pelt glow silver. I closed my eyes as a wave of exhaustion and cold washed over me. The dark cave was disappearing. Runningnose was gone. I could no longer smell either of them. Instead, the scents of several familiar and unfamiliar cats were all around me.

Startled, I opened my eyes. I was sitting in a clearing in a forest. How did I get here? I wondered vaguely. I noticed a large rock to my left, with a den underneath it, and it came to me – this was ThunderClan's camp. What was I doing here? Shouldn't I have been in ShadowClan's camp? Wasn't that what happened during a nine-lives ritual?

I stared up at the sky, hoping that StarClan would be able to tell me what I was supposed to do. I wasn't even sure if I still believed in StarClan. As I stared, the many stars above swirled and…plummeted toward the earth.

I wanted to leap back, but my paws were glued to the ground. The stars melted and shifted into many cats, who surrounded me in a circle. It was to dark to see who they were. I dipped my head.

"Welcome, Tigerclaw." It was a hissing voice. "Are you ready to receive your nine lives?"  
I nodded. "I am."

A ginger tortoiseshell tom padded forward. I stared at him, not recognizing this cat until he stopped in front of me, sitting stiffly with his fluffy red tail curled around his paws. I knew this cat…I had killed him myself.

Redtail.

"That's right, Tigerclaw," he hissed. "It's me."

I stared in shock in amazement. Finally, I stammered, "R-Redtail, I…I shouldn't be seeing you! Where is ShadowClan?"

"_You_ didn't grow up in ShadowClan, Tigerclaw," snapped the ginger tom. "Either you will accept these lives, or none at all."  
I dipped my head in defeat. Redtail did the same and began his ritual.

"With this life I give you courage," he whispered. "Use it well to carry out your own duties."

He touched his nose to mine…and I was sent back in time. I was by Sunningrocks. I remembered that place – that was when we had defeated RiverClan and won the territory back. I ran – but I hadn't moved my legs! – into the shadows to go back to camp…but a huge dark brown shape crashed into me, pouncing on my back…

Wait…that was me. I was seeing this through Redtail's eyes. I blinked, and the horrifying vision was over. Redtail stared at me for a moment, then padded back to sit next to the other cats. I sat there, breathing hard. I had just witnessed what I had done to Redtail to land him in StarClan…how would the other cat's lives turn out?

I peered ahead when I saw a small gray she-cat limping forward. Her crippled leg sat awkwardly away as she sat down in front of me. I gasped.

"Cinderpelt?" I whispered. "But…you're not dead!"

The she-cat's amber eyes narrowed in anger. "No. I'm not, Tigerclaw," hissed Cinderpelt. "But that doesn't mean you haven't done anything to me. See this?" She looked at her crippled, broken leg. "You did this to me. It is _your_ fault that I could never be a warrior. I must thank you."

My mouth worked noiselessly. How could I have done this to such a young she-cat? I shook that thought away. She had gotten herself stuck in that trap that was supposed to be for Bluestar. It was her own fault. Her mentor – that disgusting kittypet Fireheart – should have looked after her better.

Cinderpelt bent her head toward me and murmured, "With this life I give you planning. Use it well to devise ways to hurt others."

I was suddenly running across the Thunderpath, toward a pair of amber eyes…I felt the ground rumble. My eyes stared, horrified, as a huge monster rushed toward me. I let out a yowl of horror and opened my eyes. I was back in ThunderClan camp…after I had relieved what Cinderpelt had gone through as an apprentice.

Cinderpelt limped back into the shadows. Another cat – a tabby tom – took her place. I realized with a flash of horror that it was Runningwind. I had killed him, just like I had killed Redtail.

"Tigerclaw." The swift warrior spat my name. "Now you think you can become leader of ShadowClan without overcoming incredible challenges? You are wrong, foxdung. You will pay – but you are too arrogant to know it."

"Shut up," I hissed. "You don't know anything."

Runningwind shook his head. "I hunt with StarClan, Tigerclaw. I see more." He dipped his head and I was forced to do the same. "With this life I give you regret. Use it well to understand the feelings of others."

I was in the forest of ThunderClan territory when my legs buckled as and incredible weight launched on me. I saw terrified amber eyes watching this, and a white body stalked out of the bushes. It was Whitethroat. My attacker delivered a devastating bite to my neck and ran away, past the white cat. I felt my senses fade, and I realized I was dead…

Then I was back. For the third time. Runningwind spat at me, then turned and walked back into the circle. Another cat stalked forward.

It was Ravenpaw. Like Cinderpelt, he wasn't dead – but he had a terrible grudge against me. The black cat glared at me and whispered,

"Tigerclaw, you thought you could scare me into never telling anyone the truth about what you did to Redtail, but you were wrong."

"Yes, and then you left the Clan like a coward," I sneered. "I left because they made me."

"I was never happy in ThunderClan!"

"Because I made it so. I was going to kill you myself, but you and your stupid friends had to leave me believing that a ShadowClan patrol had killed you." I scowled at him. "Coward."

Ravenpaw snarled at me. "You, Tigerclaw, are the coward. You want to be Clan leader? You have to be deputy, and when StarClan calls your leader, you have to be ready to take over."

"I was always the better leader for ThunderClan," I snapped. "It could have been powerful."

Ravenpaw shook his head and began another ritual. "With this life I give you fear. Use it well to make the right decisions."

… "You're part of ShadowClan, Ravenpaw. You are a spy. You have betrayed your own Clan."

I shrank back from Tigerclaw's harsh words. It wasn't true! I was loyal. I had never betrayed ThunderClan…but who would believe me…? Tigerclaw would destroy me, I knew…he was only doing this so that I would cover up what he had done to Redtail…

Ravenpaw's vision ended. I watched as he padded back to sit next to the other cats. I waited for the next cat to come. I was terrified to see that a she-cat with a pale ginger coat was padding up to me. She glared at me with cool amber eyes, but said nothing.

"G-Goldenflower…" I whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"It's too late for that, Tigerclaw," she meowed. "You were my mate. I trusted you. But…you betrayed the Clan. Tigerclaw…how will our kits deal with this? They don't know what you have done."

"I know. I'm sorry." I felt horrible at that moment, for the first time.

"What's done is done," meowed Goldenflower. "You can't change anything. StarClan will try and promise Bramblekit and Tawnykit a good future, but they might be affected by what you have done more than you know."

I dipped my head, not wanting to hear any more.

"With this life I give you kin," she meowed quietly. "Use it well to know there is always someone supporting you."

My mind flashed back to the scene when I was just leaving ThunderClan camp. I was watching myself bleed heavily from scratches Fireheart and Bluestar had given me. My eyes narrowed with shock and sadness as his eyes met mine. He knew…I knew…that there was nothing I could do to make Goldenflower forgive me.

I sat in ThunderClan's camp again. My mate was already padding away from me. I was stunned when I saw a little she-cat stalking up to me. She was very small – definitely a kit – with a dark tortoiseshell pelt. It was my daughter, Tawnykit.

"Father…Tigerclaw…" she mewed, using perfect speech for her age, "when I find out what you have done in the past, the entire Clan will hate me for it." She blinked slowly. "Even though I have done nothing wrong, the entire Clan sees me as you. Bramblekit can deal with that, but I can't." Defiant amber eyes glared. I could say absolutely nothing.

Tawnykit dipped her head and murmured quietly, "With this life I give you destiny. Use it well to be accepted in your new Clan."

I had a flash of a young tortoiseshell apprentice speaking to an old gray tom…Smallear. The tom sneered at her, and the young she-cat glanced away, devastated. She ran into her leader's den…the burden of being Tigerclaw's daughter weighing heavily on her mind.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as Tawnykit backed away.

Another kit took her place. It was a look-alike of me…it was Bramblekit. The young kit stared up at me with eyes full of hatred.

"I thought you were a great warrior," he hissed. "But when Fireheart told me what you really are…I didn't want to be part of it at all. As a warrior, I want to be deputy, but our leader will never accept me because I am your son." Bramblekit lashed his tail. "Why did you have to betray ThunderClan? We could have had a great life."

I didn't answer. I couldn't answer.

Bramblekit bowed his head. "With this life I give you loyalty to what you know to be right. Use it well to remain true to your Clan."

Bramblekit's vision was much different than all the others. I was sitting in a new territory, discussing deputies to a tabby warrior I didn't recognize. I caught a few words of their conversation. "…the only reason why you can't be deputy is because of who your father was. Who _our_ father was…" Hawkfrost.

I closed my eyes in dismay.

"Tigerclaw."

A stern voice was above me. Bramblekit had already gone to sit with the other StarClan cats. I looked up to see Fireheart sitting across from me.

"You!" I yowled, and tried to launch myself at him, but my paws were still stuck to the ground. I snarled in frustration. "When I get my claws on you, Fireheart…"

"More than likely," he replied cockily. "But you'll lose, don't worry." I growled in anger. "Tigerclaw, you could have had a great life in ThunderClan, but you chose ambition over loyalty. You do not even believe in StarClan any more."

"What!" I yowled, interrupting. "Of course I believe in StarClan. I wouldn't be here if I didn't!"

"You only want StarClan's power of nine lives," hissed the ginger tom. "That's all you want, and you know it."

I scowled. "I'll kill you, Fireheart."

"No, you won't," was his response.

"I can try."

Fireheart sighed and dipped his head. "Do what you want, Tigerclaw. With this life I give you strength. Use it well to defeat your enemies."

… "Kittypet! Come and see how a real warrior fights." I yowled in anger and launched at my enemy, as my broken leader, Bluestar, watched with horrified eyes…

"You'll die, Tigerclaw," whispered Fireheart before padding away.

I sat nervously, wondering who the last cat could be. My head jerked up when a sleek gray shape padded toward me. My eyes widened. Bluestar!

"I was never the same after what you did to my Clan, Tigerclaw," she whispered. "ThunderClan was worried about me. They waited for me to be the strong leader I had once been, but I never came back. When you led the rogues to attack our Clan, it would never be the same…"

"You deserve to die!" I snarled. "You are a terrible leader!"

"A good leader does not lead her Clan into unnecessary wars, Tigerclaw," argued Bluestar. "You have no idea what it means to be a god leader." Before I could argue with her, she dipped her head. "With this life I give you respect. Use it well to lead your Clan through times of hardship."

...I lay on the grass, close to the RiverClan border. I could feel my last life ebbing away. My kits…were they safe? Where were they…? I blinked, and sighed. Fireheart…do well.

"I hail you by your new name, Tigerstar," meowed Bluestar with no trace of pride. "Your old life is no more. You have now received the nine lives of a leader, and StarClan grants you the guardianship of ShadowClan. Defend it well; care of the young and old; live each life with pride and dignity."

The cats who had just given me my nine lives sat glaring at me as I raised my chin proudly. Yes! I had received all of my nine lives. I felt no pity for what I had just witnessed, the visions of all the cats I had hurt. I was Tigerstar, the ruler of the forest.

* * *

Ah, crappy couple of last words, but oh well. 

That was longer than I thought…and pretty sad. Thank you to anybody who bothered to read this long, sad, boring fic. If you liked it, leave a review, please.


End file.
